James A. Zarzana Launch of Book III of The Marsco Saga, The Marsco Sustainability Project12/15/2019 Here is the YouTube recording of the launch of Book III of The Marsco Saga, The Marsco Sustainability Project, held at the Marshall-Lyon County Library on Tues., Dec. 10, 2019.
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Like delicious food? Crave good poetry? Join me this Saturday, Jan. 6, at Trev's Kitchen, a wonderful new restaurant in Lynd, just outside of Marshall, for both great food and soul-warming poetry. Come for dinner and stay for a poetry reading by area writers, including the editors of the anthology, Phyllis Cole-Dai and Ruby Wilson, as well as Susan McLean, Saara Myrene Raappana, Christine Stewart-Nunez, Dana Yost, and myself, Marianne Murphy Zarzana. This new book, Poetry of Presence: An Anthology of Mindfulness Poems, published in September 2017 by Grayson Books, includes over 150 poems, some by South Dakota and Minnesota poets, as well as Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize winning poets. I'm honored to have two of my previously published poems, "Saying Our Names" and "Savasana: Corpse Pose," selected for this beautiful anthology. This reading will be a wonderful way to welcome in the New Year. There will be a FREE fruit and veggie appetizers offered during the reading, and signed copies of the book will be available for purchase. Books by the poets present will be available for purchase as well. Each book purchased at the event will have a bookmark and an attached coupon for a free feature cocktail, fountain beverage, or small coffee drink from Trev's Kitchen. Go to this Facebook event site to let us know you'll be with us this Saturday: https://www.facebook.com/events/172663280000700/ For many months, my web site and blog have been dormant. Now as another busy semester comes to an end at Southwest Minnesota State University, I'll have some time soon for writing before the spring semester begins.
As I begin again, I've renamed my blog--"Writing in This Moment." "Fly-over Country" served me well for the past seven years, but this new name fits my intention--to be fully present and mindful in this moment of history, in all its beauty and brutality, and to encourage other writers to use all the tools of our craft to express their own truth by "writing in this moment." Tonight, as part of our family tradition, we lit the First Candle of Advent--HOPE. As we enter the season of Advent, I'm looking inside as well as beyond, seeking signs of hope as I move through our broken world, praying that I may "be a good spigot" of hope for others through my writing and this website. The SMSU Visiting Writers Series recently hosted "A Conversation with James A. Zarzana, Author of The Marsco Saga," moderated by writer Steve Linstrom.
Settle into a comfy chair, click on the hyperlink (A Conversation...) and join Jim and Steve. And if you have not already read these two speculative science fiction novels, The Marsco Dissident (Book One) and Marsco Triumphant (Book Two), cruise over to amazon.com, buy your copies and purchase some as Christmas presents. SMSU Visiting Writers Series Hosts "A Conversation with James A. Zarzana, Author of The Marsco Saga"11/10/2016   Philip Dacey, a dear friend, brilliant poet and great teacher passed away on July 7. Here is a link to the story posted on SMSU's website about him, which includes a link to his final performance, which he presented at SMSU's Marshall Festival '15 last October: http://www.smsu.edu/today/?articleid=4093 Here is Phil's website: http://www.philipdacey.com/ Phil's new book of poems, The Ice Cream Vigils: Last Poems, will be published posthumously by Red Dragonfly Press in 2016. We will miss you greatly, Phil. Thank you for your poetry and your life.  Once again, it's time to gather for Marshall Festival!
Time to celebrate the stories, the poems, the music, the art. Time to celebrate "What Feeds Us," what sustains us, what allows us to thrive as writers, artists, creators, lovers of language and images. Plan to join us for readings, panels and events on campus at SMSU, as well as a Children's Reading by Native American writer Cheryl Minnema at the new Children's Wing in the Marshall-Lyon County Library, Sat., Oct. 24, 2-3 p.m., and Spoken Word Night at Brau Brothers Tap Room, Sat., Oct. 24, 9-11 p.m. The complete Marshall Festival '15 schedule is listed here and below, and all events are free and open to the public. Spread the word--we're throwing another good party at Marshall Festival '15, and everyone is welcome! Many thanks to the generous sponsorship of Marshall Festival '15 provided by SMSU's Access Opportunity Success (AOS) program and the SMSU Office of Diversity and Inclusion that makes it possible to fund our Native American writers who are past contributors to Yellow Medicine Review, SMSU's journal of indigenous voices. Sincere thanks also to the SMSU Foundation for their financial support, and to the SMSU Alumni Association for their help publicizing the event to our graduates. Marshall Festival ’15: What Feeds Us A Celebration of Rural Writing and Culture The Festival Organizers have made every effort to reduce the possibility of late changes in the schedule; nevertheless, you can find out about daily last-minute changes at the Information Table in the SMSU Upper Level Conference Center lobby, the Barnes & Noble Book Store, or the SMSU English Department in BA 221. You may also call the English Department at 507-537-7155. Thursday, Oct. 22 Afternoon Session Readings & Events 12-12:45 Mix & Mingle: Coffee & tea SMSU Upper Level Conference Center 12:45 Official Opening: Welcome by President Connie J. Gores SMSU Upper Level CC 1:00 SMSU Upper Level CC Choose one: Track 1: Dana Yost: Power to the Prairie: Ed Gits and Minneota Go Electric Alan Davis: Stories from Alone with the Owl Track 2: Christine Stewart-Nunez, Mary Haug, & Amber Jensen: A Creative Nonfiction Reading: From Workshop to Publication 1:45-2 Book signings--SMSU Upper Level CC Lobby 2:00 Choose one: Track 1: Steve Linstrom and Jim Zarzana: Read Local–Creating a Market for Locally Produced Writing Track 2: Kris Bigalk and Matt Mauch: Poetry—Rural Roots to Urban Moves 2:45-3 Book signings--SMSU Upper Level CC Lobby 3:00 Choose one: Track 1: Larry Gavin and Michael Catherwood: A Poetry Reading Track 2: Julie Walker, Ben Walker, Larry Montello, Kristen Treinen: The Powerful Uses of Personal Narrative 3:45-4 Book signings--SMSU Upper Level CC Lobby 4:00 Choose one: Track 1: Connie Claire Szarke & Rachael Hanel: A Fiction & Nonfiction Reading Track 2: Zeke Jarvis: A Poetry Reading; Sharon Chmielarz: The Prairie: Your Soulscape? Poems about the Prairie & Its People 4:45 Group book signings – SMSU Lower Level CC 5:00 Dinner on your own 7-8:00 An Evening of Stories with Susan Power & Gordon Henry—SMSU Upper Level Conference Center Friday, Oct. 23 Morning Session Readings & Events 9:00-10 Mix & Mingle: Coffee & tea SMSU Lower Level Conference Center 10:00 Choose one: Track 1: Carter Meland & Natanya Pulley: Rabbit Vengeance & Cannibal Spirits Track 2: Gabrielle Cohrs, Daniel Kilkelly, Madeline Robertson, SMSU Creative Writing Alumni: Don't Quit Your Day Job.....Yet: How to Make Your Creativity Marketable 10:45-11 Book signings--SMSU Upper Level CC 11:00 Choose one: Track 1: James Autio & Dawn Quigley: The Role of Ethnicity and Culture in Creative Work Track 2: Lisa Lucas Hurst & Paul Theobald: Promoting and Preserving Rural Literature 12:00 Lunch on your own 1:00 Choose one: Track 1: Anthony Neil Smith & Ben Sobieck: Writing the Oil Boom: The New North Dakota Track 2: Saara Myrene Raapana & Kevin Zepper: A Poetry Reading 2:00 Black Box, Fine Arts Building: Performance of “Ady” by Rhiana Yazzie 3:30 Yellow Medicine Review Writers: A Reading SMSU Upper Level CC 4:45 Group book signings – SMSU Lower Level CC 5:00 Dinner on your own 7-8:00 An Evening of Poetry: Philip Dacey & David Allan Evans SMSU Upper Level Conference Center Saturday, Oct. 24 9-10 Mix & Mingle: Coffee & tea SMSU Lower Level Conference Center 10:00 Cheryl Minnema & Pauline Danforth: Listening to Our Ancestors’ Stories While Creating Our Own 11:00 Gordon Henry & Trevino Brings Plenty: 12:00 Lunch on your own 1:00 Susan Power & Rhiana Yazzie: Taking Back Our World—Indigenous Artists Reclaim Power through Story 2:00 Cheryl Minnema, Children’s Reading of Hungry Johnny, Children’s Wing, Marshall-Lyon County Library SMSU Upper Level Conference Center 2:00 Benjamin Walker, Kevin Zepper, Nick White: Spoken Word Panel 3:00 Barton Sutter, Susan McLean, Jan D. Hodge: Pro Forma: What Poetry in Form Can Do That Free Verse Can’t 4:00 Lucy Tokheim, Edie Barrett, Lauren Carlson: The Power of Place 4:45-5:15 Group book signings – SMSU Lower Level CC 5-6:30 Marshall Festival ’15 “What Feeds Us” Farewell Potluck Dinner - SMSU Campus Religious Center All Welcome! 7-8:00 An Evening of Music and Poetry with Bart & Ross Sutter SMSU Upper Level Conference Center 9-11:00 Spoken Word Night, Brau Brothers Tap Room Featured Spoken Word Performers: Trevino Brings Plenty, Sarah Agaton Howes, Nick White Master of Ceremonies: SMSU Professor Ben Walker Followed by SMSU student spoken word performers A free will offering will benefit Yellow Medicine Review, SMSU’s literary journal of indigenous voices. In honor of Women's History Month, the Southwest Minnesota State University Women's Studies Committee sponsored "Funny Women: A Reading of Comic Poetry by Melissa Balmain, Gail White & Julie Kane" by SMSU faculty, students and administrators on Wed., March 18, 2015 in CH 217.
Click here to watch the reading. Readers include: Prof. Pat Brace, Dani Crowell (creative writing student), Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs Jan Loft, Prof. Susan McLean, Jess Rockeman (creative writing student), Prof. Maureen Sander-Staudt, Prof. Ruthe Thompson, and myself, Prof. Marianne Murphy Zarzana. Dana Yost, an award-winning editor turned poet and a creative writing graduate from Southwest Minnesota State University, has won the District Lit Reader’s Choice Award for his poem "Where the Music Died."
On his website, Dana writes, "It is a poem about the day I took my mother to see the site of the 1959 plane crash that killed the young rock stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper. The plane crashed in a farm field not too far south of where I live. The poem was published by District Lit in 2013 and was among the nominees for the inaugural Reader’s Choice Award, which pulled together a group of nominees from among the poems published by District Lit the last 2-1/2 years." According to Dana, "District Lit, from suburban Washington D.C., is a very solid literary journal, with a strong annual crop of pieces nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net awards." District Lit will feature Dana's poem and the winning short story in the fiction contest (by Faith Gardner) in a display at its Bookfair table at the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) Annual Conference, April 8-11, at the Minneapolis Convention Center and Hilton Minneapolis Hotel. AWP is a huge gathering, mostly of the nation’s college writing programs, and is held in a different city each year. There will be more than 2,000 presenters and 550 readings, panel discussions and lectures. District Lit will publish a chapbook of Dana Yost's poem and Faith Gardner’s short story and make copies available at their AWP Bookfair table. Congratulations, Dana! I've never been to this place in Iowa where the music died, but your poem takes me right there. 
When my family moved to Marshall, Minnesota in 1989, I wasn't sure about the cultural landscape beyond Southwest Minnesota State University where my husband, Jim, had been hired.
I've been more than pleasantly surprised. One of those surprises has been Cornstock--an eclectic, open stage, grassroots gathering of poets, writers, musicians and those who love poetry and music. Tasty potluck cuisine is a bonus of Cornstock events. So polish up a poem, a story, or a song you want to share, and join us for the upcoming Cornstock. Feed your body and your soul! Who: Poets, writers, musicians, singers What: Potluck Supper -- 6 p.m. Open Mic -- 7 p.m. When: Friday, March 20 Where: Ghent Legion Hall, Ghent, Minnesota Why: Because it's been a long winter, and your soul wants to dance! |
AuthorI love to play with words. To capture moments on the page. To explore the physical and spiritual geography of what I call "fly-over country." I write from imagination, observation and my own experience of wandering in fly-over country--the literal, physical spaces of my life on the Minnesota prairie and the inner territory of the soul. Archives
December 2019
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